(DUNKIRK) – 1199 Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Healthcare Workers East-Represented Workers at Brooks Memorial Hospital in Dunkirk Have Ratified a New, Three-Year Contract That Maintains Quality Care and Good Jobs for This Southern Tier Community, Union Officials Announced This Week.

1199 SEIU Represents 170 Workers Who are Employed at the Northern Chautauqua County Hospital, Which is a 65-Bed Acute Care, Voluntary, Non-Profit Medical Facility That Includes An Emergency Department. 

The New Agreement - Which Features Much Needed Improvements to Pension Contribution Rates, a 1% Wage Increase Starting in May 1st, 2015 (With Maintenance of Step Progression in 2014 & 2015) and Job Security Language – Was Ratified by a 4-to-1 Margin, Union Officials said.

The Contract Also Maintains Many of the Quality Standards That Workers at the Hospital Rely On, Including Maintaining the Same or Comparable Health Insurance Benefits for the Life of the Agreement, and Vacation Accrual for Current Employees, Union Officials said. 

On Another Front, the 1199 SEIU Training and Upgrading Fund Continues to be Made Available at No Cost to 1199 Members, Providing Important Educational Opportunities When the Industry is in Flux and Health Care Delivery is Changing Quickly, Union Officials said.

“I Was Very Happy to See So Many People Come Out to Vote (On the New Contract),” Ashley Raymond, a Personal Care Aide and a Member of the 1199 SEIU Bargaining Committee, “After All This Time and Everything We’ve Been Through, We’re Still ‘United,’ and With This Contract We Can Concentrate On Providing Quality Care.  That’s What We Do.”

Added Angel Correa, a Dietary Aide at the Hospital: “To Me it’s a Relief to Have Bargaining Over and Have Our New Contract in Place.  Now We Can Get Back To What We Truly Love to Do - Caring for Our Patients and Making Them Smile.”

1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East – Whose Mission is to Achieve Quality Care and Good Jobs For All  - is the Largest And Fastest-Growing Health Care Union in New York State and the Nation.  1199 SEIU Represents More Than 10,500 Health Care Workers Across Western New York, 275,000 Health Care Workers Throughout the State and More Than 400,000 Total Members Along the East Coast.